April 18, 2017

Vintage Sewing Finds

I have two things on my wish list and this weekend I knocked one of them off! My sister and I went to some antique places and I had her on the lookout for a tan Featherweight (a pipe dream) and a small, oval Singer oil can. This particular can is a wee version of the taller oval can and is perfectly sized to fit into a Featherweight black case. There is a bracket at the bottom of the case that holds the can in place. As far as I'm concerned, they are rare. I have been looking for two years so when my eagle eyed sister spotted one in a cabinet at our last stop, as I was checking out (!), I think she was just as excited as I was to fulfill my search!

The tiny can is adorable and fits perfectly into its original home. Because there is still oil in it and the spout is a bit wobbly, I am going to store it in my glass cabinet to showcase this piece of Singer history.

I also picked up two other small, vintage sewing treasures. The first is a leather travel sewing kit. It's definitely older, maybe the 50s(?) and I'm guessing it was made in Germany because there is a small packet of needles with a German wrapper and GERMANY is printed on the needle threader. It has cute metal accessories including a tape measure, thimble, and needle case. I just loved the green case, the little pin cushion built into the lining, and the pockets holding thread. There are a couple other tools (a pointy thing/stiletto(?) and a crochet hook) and a loop obviously meant to hold a small pair of scissors. It's odd there is no identifying label or stamp from the manufacturer so it's impossible for me to find out any more information about this charming kit.

Finally, I hummed and hawed for quite a while but in the end couldn't resist this advertising tin of vintage needles. The case is a pretty crimson tortoise-shell looking cylinder housing 100 sewing needles of various sizes. By spinning the arrow on the cap one can select the desired size and tip out a single needle through the hole. The company Kirby Beard & Co. is a very old manufacturer from England known for its pins and needles. Having just been to London last summer I thought this was such a sweet pin dispenser to add to my sewing collection and could double as a souvenir from our trip. The fact that it still has needles in it was a big bonus factor since I know that they really don't 'make 'em like they used to'. Of course I can't verify the needles' authenticity but they seem stronger and more substantial than the hand needles of today. That is the case with vintage sewing machine needles and I'm pretty confident these are indeed original. Nonetheless, I'm happy I picked it up and it's such a clever way to dispense needles. I plan on actually using it (and the contents) so that's kind of fun too!